Ciji Castro - Culinary Approaches to Anti-Inflammatory Eating: An Interactive Yogurt Sundae Bar

Thank you for having me. Three years ago was the first time I found myself in a room with other endo patients. It was the first time I met someone else that had endometriosis. I had navigated 30 years on my own, not knowing what this disease was and finding myself in this room with women and families that get it. I've been back every year ever since. So we're going to get into it. Finding relief through food. So who am I? Well, Carolyn pretty much told you who I am. I'm a chef, I'm an advocate, I'm a storyteller, and I'm a mama. And my daughters are 70% more likely to have endometriosis because I have endometriosis. And that is my reason why I stay within the community. I attend the medical conference talks and I continue to learn. So mindful eating. A couple years ago, actually it was last year.

In the medical conference, Dr. Roberta Klein did a talk on genetics and food. And I learned that some foods can increase the probability of developing endo. I had never heard that before.

Like all of you know, it's different for everyone. Some things that can upset someone else's system are fine for someone else. So after learning that my children have such a high probability of having endometriosis, because I have endometriosis, I went home and I started thinking about what I'm feeding them, what I'm giving them for snacks, and also what I'm eating. So I started being mindful. So here are the heavy hitters. You've got your ultra processed foods, excess alcohol and caffeine. Now, ultra processed foods just have preservatives, emulsifiers, those artificial sweeteners that are known to cause inflammation. And excess alcohol can stress the liver and increase estrogen. So it's not metabolizing the hormones the way it's meant to, which can feed the growth of endometriosis with the spike in estrogen. And then with caffeine, if you have too much caffeine, I don't know about you guys, but I get super jittery.

I don't sleep. And all that stress on the central nervous system causes a spike in cortisol and also estrogen. So it just makes it more difficult. So here are your anti-inflammatory culprits. There's really a list of 10 heavy hitters. So you've got your refined sugar, your white sugar, your processed sugar, gluten and grains, soy products, high fat foods, red meat, dairy. And then the problem with non-organic foods. So it took me 20 years to get a diagnosis and then 10 additional years to get proper treatment. And one of the things that I learned and the first thing that I changed was the meat that I was buying and cooking. All those hormones, if you ingest it, you're just adding to your own. And that was the first thing I cut out. I've had multiple surgeries, multiple organs have been affected by endometriosis, and doesn't need any more fuel to the fire, honestly.

But everybody is different, and this is what I was talking about. You can identify personal triggers. If there's something that you're eating that you are responding to, try cutting it out. And we're going to have some substitutions here in a bit so you can kind of think about what upsets your stomach, what upsets your system, what causes that joint pain from the inflammation, and see how you can feel better. So one of the things that I struggle with after working all day is what am I going to make for dinner? Yes, I'm a chef, I cook, but feeding the three kids that I have, especially the picky one, it's always a challenge. And having to think about cooking a whole different way can be stressful and it's not sustainable. So just try eliminating one thing and then go from there.

So one of the ways that you can nourish your body, yes, you can take supplements. I take omega-3 every day. I take magnesium every day. I take vitamin D every day. And then I make sure that I'm trying to eat those. So omega-3s help reduce inflammation. Magnesium, not only does it help you sleep a little bit better, it helps relax the muscles. And I don't know about you, but I am always very tense. So anything to help relax the neck, I'm in. And then vitamin D. It inhibits the cell growth, but again, not for everyone. There's mixed results. And then it also inhibits inflammation.

Have fun eating. Let me tell you, with my kids, sometimes in the very beginning, making this swap, cutting out all the candy and the processed snacks and switching, even the yogurt. I was that mom that was buying the animals and the little, the sweetened, basically glorified juice, but making slow changes, swapping it out, I switched to high protein yogurt and I give them all the fun stuff to eat on top. Another thing that I do is I like to put out multiple options. So today, after this is done, we do have kind of like a Sunday bar. And this was inspired by the fact that I work with Carolyn and I really am a big ambassador for the Empower Project because I was missing school every month. I've been battling this since I was nine years old. I'm 42. I would go to my friend's house.

You always want that fun slumber party, the breakfast buffet, the fun kid stuff. And I don't want young people to miss out on the fun. So I try to give really fun options. You can still have dark chocolate. You can still have sweeteners. And so that's what we have today after this, after this talk, is kind of like a yogurt bar.

So here's my cheat sheet, the swap shop. Switching out your refined sugar. If you still have a sweet tooth, like I do. I love honey, but you can do maple syrup. You could do coconut sugar. You can even use dates and fruit from white bread and refined grains like your weed and whatnot, you can switch to quinoa, oats, brown rice. It is a process. My husband does not like quinoa. I love it. The kids, they buy the brown rice. It's not their favorite, but they eat it. Your fried foods. I live by the air fryer. I love the air fryer. I can make chicken nuggets out of boneless, skinless chicken breast. And also it's quick and easy. One pot meal, not a lot of mess, but a lot of roasted, grilled, less mess. I hate the oil splatter. And then for dairy, you've got ... Listen, 10 years ago, finding a dairy alternative was you had one option.

You had almond milk. Now you've got everything. You've got oat milk. You've got coconut milk. You've got lots of options. So I feel like we're moving in the right direction to giving people options. And then your processed snacks. I have switched to ... I love granola. I love making my own granola. And now you have so many options. I mean, the EndoFound team went out yesterday and they bought everything and I don't think they had a hard time finding it, right? No. See? Easy. I also told my kids that fruit is nature's candy. Those brown spots in the banana, that's banana sugar. They're extra sweets. They buy it. That's pretty much it. So I just wanted to share this with you because it changed the way I feed myself, changed the way I feed my family. Sitting in on that talk really made me think about the whole picture.

So I wanted to share that with you. Does anyone have any questions? Yes.

Oils, like if I'm cooking ... Oh, oh, this is facial. Okay. I find that certain oils, especially olive oil, are dipping oil, and that's what adds flavor to a lot of the things I'm cooking, but it also does not work well with my system. Have you found anything of that sort? It's

Interesting that you bring up oil because I forgot to include that in my presentation. And the ironic thing is that for domestic gourmet, one of the very first products I brought to market was an organic anato oil. And after extensive research, I chose organic sunflower oil, came to market and I had no idea that there was all this marketing out there on no seed oils. The fact of the matter is, is that it's all comes down to the ultra processed. And there is a chemical called hexane, which ... I'm not going to go down that road, but when you stick to organic, it's not ultra processed. It doesn't have those chemicals. Cold processed works better. You can still have that high heat. I use it every day, and it is anti-inflammatory. So if olive oil isn't agreeing with you, you do have options. You can get unrefined coconut oil, which doesn't have ... Or sorry, refined coconut oil, which doesn't have the strong coconut flavor.

It still has a high heat smoke point, and then the organic anato oil as well. Anato seeds are full of beta carotene and that is also anti-inflammatory. But yeah, that is really ... Honestly, this is what inspired my entire business and also why I pivoted. I used to cook on TV, used to be an influencer. And listen, every day is unpredictable. Some days I can get out of bed and sometimes I still can't, even though I'm much better than I was three years ago. So I started changing even the Latin products that are full of artificial colors and dyes and just junk.

Anybody else?

Carolyn.

So we have a question from a online audience member who asks, as a vegetarian, someone who can eat fish or seafood, they were previously using soy as a protein source, but what advice do you have about alternatives to soy for vegetarians?

That's a hard one. You really have to maybe incorporate more nuts. And then there's also coconut. Coconut has protein, but yeah, it's the tofu that's a problem and it can be inflammatory. I'm trying to think. Honestly, it would just be trying to get in your seeds. Yeah. I'm sorry.

So I guess my question is more of, I know you said Latin food. For example, for me, I'm Peruvian, and so I find myself mourning not having ahis, which is the hot peppers in our country. And I know that hot sauce, all of that can be inflammatory. I guess my question is, how do you find flavors that are similar and kind of scratch that itch without completely sacrificing it? Because I go through days where I'm like, "I'm not doing it and I'm just going to continue eating and I don't care and I'll suffer the consequences because the attachment to food is very strong in our culture." So I guess this was a very long-winded question, but how do you find alternatives and how do you deal with it, I guess, and justify it in your head?

So that was me yesterday. I'll eating pizza and dim some. I get it. I'm going to pay the price, but I'm in New York, I leave tomorrow. So sometimes you do what you got to do. Honestly, I started making it myself, making your pique, as Puerto Ricans call it, you can soak your peppers and vinegar and make your own hot sauce. Just really pay attention to the ingredients. Stay away from any additives, preservatives. If you understand every ingredient, it's your peppers, it's your vinegar, it's your salt, maybe sugar. Look at the sugar grams, the grams of sugar, and then decide. But I will say being in the CPG space is that there are a lot of clean products coming to market. People care about this and they've been asking for it and now it's becoming more and more available. And hot sauce, the market for hot sauce is blowing up.

So I really feel like if not now, very soon you're going to start seeing a lot of options. My husband loves spice, and so there's this place in Dunedin that is literally a whole store with nothing but hot sauce. And there was actually quite a bit in there that was all clean. Carolyn, I thought about the online question. Legumes, beans. That's where you get your protein.

I actually was also coming back with a suggestion from a different online participant who said that they eat a lot of lentils. Yeah,

As

An endo patient.

Yeah. I just had lentil risotto the other day was amazing.

Any

Other questions? Yes. Oh, hold on one second. You got a mic coming to you.

Where would you suggest finding the largest range? The largest range for clean food options, like a store maybe that would have the biggest range, because I feel like when I'm food shopping, I'm bouncing from store to store to store to try and find everything and it kind of becomes like a project.

Unfortunately, that's just our reality. Same. Okay. I go grocery shopping and I jump from Whole Foods to Trader Joe's to public. It's really just, I know my favorite little brands and where I find them, but unfortunately I have not found a one-stop shop. So if anyone has, let me know. But yeah. Anybody else?

Hello.

Hi.

Hi. So I'm just kind of wondering maybe what your personal experiences or people that you have worked with as far as how much difference has been made by diet because I've heard a lot of women complaining online about, "I've tried this diet. I've tried that diet. Oh my God, nothing works." And that's kind of the same thing for me. I have tried, and of course I always come back to the anti-inflammatory, but it's hard to notice and know, am I feeling better today or is it in my head? Because we fluctuate so much.

We do.

So I guess I'd like to know, is there a substantial amount of change seen in those efforts to sacrifice all the food changes with the diet?

Personally, yes. I have always been really passionate about ancestral cooking, making everything from scratch, growing it, and then processing it and preserving it. And one thing I've noticed is when I'm using whole clean ingredients, everyone in my house is feeling better, including the kids. I've got a five, seven, and 10-year-old. And so the seven-year-old, when the 10-year-old was seven, everyone has a tummy ache for a year. And it really boils down to what they're eating. And I notice when I'm cooking and we're eating at home, the tummy aches go away. The constipation goes away. The bowel problems go away. Nobody's nauseous. There's just ... For me personally, I do notice a difference. I feel a little bit lighter on my feet. I don't feel it. For me, I carry a lot of inflammation in my hips, a lot of tightness.

So I personally have noticed I don't like the term diet. I feel like it becomes this big, unattainable, confusing. It requires way too much thought and preparation and almost like planning. For me, think about what you eat, what you like to eat, and then think about some other ways you can eat it. For instance, picadillo is on rotation in my house. It's a quick 20 minute meal. Picadillo is ground beef and like a tomato based sauce with onions, garlic, green peppers, a lot of good stuff. Switch out to ground turkey, ground chicken. It's one quick change, one easy change that is a leaner meat, so you're cutting down the fat. And just a moment. So I want you to think about you and then keep diary. Notice, I ate this for breakfast. A couple hours later, how are you feeling? Stay on that for a few days.

Eat the same thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then keep a log. And then three days later, how are you feeling? Do you notice a change? Because unfortunately, with endo, you can be walking and fine, and then the next minute you can be on the ground. And it literally hits you out of nowhere. But when you are trying to better yourself, the results are very slow and happen over time. So logging your symptoms and what you're eating, and then go from there.